


New Towns and New Schools

by CavannaRose



Series: Assorted DC Fics [5]
Category: Captain Marvel (DC), Justice Society of America (Comics), Shazam (Comics), Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E.
Genre: Awkward Sexual Situations, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Harassment not from ship, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Implied/Referenced Sexual Harassment, Sexual Harassment, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-05
Updated: 2016-04-13
Packaged: 2018-05-24 22:20:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6168832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CavannaRose/pseuds/CavannaRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A rough run in for Stargirl in a new city.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Courtney's life was nothing but change. She didn't hate her step-father, but she did resent Pat. How dare her mother fall in love again while Courtney's own heart was still broken over the death of her father. Then, she'd found the costume of the Star Spangled Kid amidst Pat's gear. That had given her the idea to use her kickboxing classes, and that fancy converter belt, to work out some of her frustrations. That's how she'd met Jack Knight, and how she'd come into possession of the Cosmic Staff.  
  
Then the unthinkable happened. Though his original intention was to take them to Nebraska... NEBRASKA, Pat relocated their family to Fawcett City. It was almost as bad. Quiet. Peaceful. Absolutely no action for Courtney. So she tucked away her staff, her belt, and her new, more feminine costume. Instead she got to look forward to being the new girl, at a new school. Dealing with other teenagers was worse than fist fighting Commie spies. She wasn't allowed to hit anyone.  
  
She hunkered down lower in the passenger seat of Pat's ridiculous Chevy. What he needed the ugly sea green truck for was beyond her. It was an eyesore. Why couldn't he have something cool, lie a T-Bird? Her step-dad reached across her lap and pushed her door open. "Come on, Court. Try to make the best of it."  
  
Grunting in bare acknowledgement she jumps out of the old truck, shouldering her bag. Stomping towards the school, she hears Pat pull away and sneers to herself. As if she was going to play nice when he brought them to the butt-end of the world. She almost giggled, even using the word in her own head gave her that thrill of being ... bad.  
  
A wolf whistle broke her concentration, causing her to pull up straight and whirl around. An older boy, slicked back hair, leather jacket, was giving her the eyeball. Courtney may have been feeling rebellious, but she knew trouble when she saw it, and was uninterested. She gave him a slow perusal, then turned her little nose up, flicking her hair over her shoulder before turning away. There was a ripple of laughter among the kids, and Courtney grinned internally. Point made.  
  
Two periods later and she was completely overwhelmed. School here was nothing like school back home. The building was unfamiliar, and she was totally lost. Books clutched to her chest she turned down a corridor, only to run smack into something solid. Sprawling on the floor, books and papers scattering she looked up to see the rough looking older boy from earlier. He smirked down at Courtney.  
  
"Well now, looks like the princess slipped off her throne." He held a hand out to her, as if offering to assist her up. The blonde girl reached up to accept it, trusting in the way a small town girl normally did. She gasped, startled, when he tugged her up and right against him, stepping forward to press her against the lockers. "The princess better watch herself, because this isn't her kingdom, capiche?"  
  
It was like a bad mobster movie, and her heart was pounding a mile a minute. If she had her belt and her staff she'd make mincemeat out of this bully, but even her kickboxing lessons flew out of her head in her panic. Up the hall a door opened and he pulled away, a smirk on his face as he turned his back on her. "Later princess."  
  
Courtney dropped to her knees, picking up her fallen belongings with shaking hands, sniffling back the tears that wanted to fall. She didn't like this city. She didn't like this school. She missed her dad. She wanted to go home.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Courtney barely looked up as a friendly voice called out, her cheeks heating up with embarrassment. This was not how she wanted to meet anyone, she might be new but she wasn't some push over. She'd just been taken by surprise. Clutching her books to her chest, she finally looked up to meet the eyes of the boy who was introducing himself as Billy and she accepted his hand. "Hey, the name's Courtney, I guess I am the new girl." She tried to quip as they shook. Retrieving her hand she carelessly tucked her bangs behind her ear, only for them to immediately fall across her face again as she pumped some bravado into her voice. "I don't let bullies like that shake me, I'll be fine."

The school was big, and she was lost, and this boy seemed a lot nicer than the other. As he discussed his next class, she scrabbled through her papers, finally producing the rumpled schedule she had crammed inside one of her text books. With a sigh of relief, sometimes life could be serendipitous, she noted her own next period allocation. "Looks like I have math next as well. Is yours with Ms. Hunt?"

She smiled, grateful for Billy's sweetness, and linked her arm around his, still holding her books close with the other as he confirmed they were indeed in the same class. Perhaps she had made a friend here... She could hope, right? She'd always made friends easily, and she seriously wanted someone to talk to beside her mom and stupid Pat. He asked about her move, and she ducked her head, watching him from beneath her long lashes. Courtney didn't just want to ramble on about herself, but he seemed interested. "We used to live in California. Sunshine and surfing and the whole lot. It's real different than Fawcett, and I miss the heat and the beach already."

Her eyebrow raised right to her unruly bangs as the other teen commented on everybody being friendly in a place like Fawcett. That sure as shooting hadn't been her experience thus far, but she let it slide. Billy was clearly one of those optimistic type of guys. Besides, what he said next really caught her interest. As they slid into their seats, Courtney bent her head closer, eyes alight with interest. "The local hero? Have you seen him? What's he like?"

This hero of Fawcett City seemed to be a real stand up guy, more like the flying fellow over in Metropolis than the dark vigilante that stalked the streets of Gotham. Courtney really hoped that she'd be able to meet him, in her guise as Stargirl, of course. She'd impressed heroes before, and she couldn't wait to show this new fella her stuff. "That sounds great, Billy. He seems real swell." With a bright smile she flipped open her text book, groaning when she saw what was in store for their day. Algebra... It was worse than one of Pat's lectures.

Courtney was a distracted student at best, and algebra was pretty high on her list of least favourite subjects. As the teacher began the lesson, she scribbled a few problems down on her page before sliding a second piece of paper out and writing a note to Billy. Waiting for the teacher to turn away, she passes it with a grin.

{Does this hero guy have places he normally hangs out? We should go and see if we can catch a glimpse of him sometime.}

{No, I don't think so. He just flies over the city once in a while, occasionally popping up when something's really bad}

Courtney chewed on the end of her pencil as she read over Billy's note. That was going to make encountering the costumed defender of Fawcett City a lot harder than she had hoped. She wanted to find this guy, maybe show him her stuff. She missed working with other heroes, like she had with the JSA when she'd first started out. They'd never made her feel like being a kid was a bad thing, but that might be because they were so much older than herself. Sighing she leaned back in her chair, trying to focus on the very, very boring algebra work the teacher was droning on about. That lasted a whole five more minutes before she was passing Billy another note.

{Is she always this boring?!?}

Letting out a silent groan, Courtney waited for the teacher to turn around before dramatically miming her death by boredom to Billy. Her own snickers drew the attention of Ms Hunt, but without being able to pick the innocent faced blonde out as the culprit, she turned back to teaching and Courtney passed yet another note back to Billy.

{I don't know if I can survive an hour of this every day. Where's that hero to save me from cruel and unusual torture?}

{I don't know right now, but I might be able to sort something out. It might take a few days, but I'll do my best. Where would you want him to meet you?}

Eyes running over the note, she was more than a little surprised, giving Billy a considering look while he focused on his schoolwork. She wondered how much of what he had stated was teenage bravado trying to impress the new girl, and how much of it was a legitimate ability to track down and make arrangements with the local hero. She passed the folded piece of paper back to Billy, feeling bold.

{I don't even know. Though I think I have to hit the library after school today to help get caught up in some of these classes. Come with?}

Catching his eye to see him nod in agreement, she turned back to the class. Unfortunately Courtney quickly grew bored and frustrated at the course work, not being the greatest at maths. Eventually she devolved to simply doodling stars and various alterations she might want to make to her costume in the margins of her paper, not really listening to what was going on in the classroom. Finally, what seemed like forever later, the bell rang indicating the interminable hour of algebra had finally drawn to an end. With a sigh of relief, she slammed her book shut and stood up.

Checking her class list, she finally had a smile. "I've got Physical Education and then lunch next, thank goodness. Another hour of listening to some old goat babble on about something boring and I might turn into a statue." she giggled. "What about you?"

Since their classes didn't line up for the next bit, Billy suggested they meet up for lunch. Grinning in agreement she hurried off to change into her gym clothes. The next hour passed enjoyably, the coach that ran the girl's fitness class was impressed with her fortitude and flexibility. After kicking butt against bad guys, even with the converter belt, climbing a few ropes was nothing to her.

Soon though, they had hit the showers and Court was standing awkwardly at the entrance of the cafeteria, scanning the crowd for the friendly, dark haired Billy. Spotting him, she rushed through the line to get her tray, the gray looking meatloaf and tin cup of canned fruit not entirely inspiring her, but at least there was a small carton of milk. Being careful not to get jostled she plopped down in the seat beside her new friend, huffing out a massive sigh before poking at the limp vegetables with her plastic fork. "I know this is supposed to be nutritious, but could they at least pretend to make it appetizing?" She joked, smiling brightly at him.

Laughing at Billy's civil war based joke, she drank her milk, the sealed state of the container providing her more confidence than the rest of the half-hearted meal. "Nerd. Gym was fantastic. I made it to the top of even the difficult rope, and the coach was really nice. She suggested I try out for the cheerleading squad, but I doubt my step dad will let me. He likes me to come straight home after school because he's a bossy jerk who thinks just because he married my mother that gives him some kind of authority over me." Her tone grew sour, her facial expression angry, but she quickly shook her head. "But that is depressing, what do you have after lunch?"

He named another pair of academic courses, nowhere near what she had on her roster. She wiped the milk off her upper lip and grinned at him. "I've got geography and then law for the last period." She was grateful that he had accepted the change back to their original topic. She picked awkwardly at the fruit cup on her plate, tentatively putting a piece in her mouth before speaking again. "How's English literature? Any good?"

Tentatively, Billy offered to show her the library after their classes. Unable to resist the urge, Courtney primped her hair a bit, watching Billy from beneath lowered lashes. He was being so nice to her, and he wasn't half bad looking either. Perhaps this city wouldn't be a waste of time. "I haven't been to the library yet, though I'm sure I'll need it for at least one of my subjects. I'd love to have you show me where it is, Billy." She demurred, voice softer than necessary.

He was gallant, this Billy, and Courtney graced him with her ten point cheerleader smile as he cleared both their trays and offered her a hand up. Tucking her arm in his, she listened to him offer her a proper tour, enjoying the way he rested his free hand possessively on her arm. If the friendly young man wanted to warn off the bullies and boys coalescing in the hallway, who was she to argue? He was the only person she'd met since the move she could tolerate speaking to, and he was cute as well, she certainly couldn't see anything wrong with a bit of flirtation. Still, she felt a small twinge of guilt. The hardest part of getting close to civilians, was that she would always have to keep her other life a secret. Dang it, she was too young to be worried things like that, instead she focused on Billy's words. "Oh I'd love the tour, I have the worst sense of direction of anyone I know, I'm always getting lost. Apparently I have to do some research on Euclidean Geometry, my last school wasn't at the same place academically as yours."

Billy briefly mentioned a plethora of archaelogical books donated to the school library after the death of a pair of local scientists, before going quiet.  Courtney nodded as he spoke, watching the other students as they moved down the hall, arm in arm. For the first time since coming to Fawcett City she felt kind of like she belonged, at least here in the halls of the high school, with the Batson boy. "Two former students died in Egypt? How tragic... though I suppose it's fortunate for the school. Archaeology texts are hard to come by, and can be really expensive. I hope I get a chance to look at some of them, archaeology is one of the few subjects that really excite me. I like the idea of digging around in something old."

Courtney sensed something from the other teen, she just wasn't sure what it was. A fragility, but at least she had enough social graces to know not to pry. She'd do a bit of research on her own time, perhaps, and find out the story. For now, it appeared Billy wanted to discuss other things, that or he was already regretting swooping to her rescue and offering his time. It wouldn't be the first time she'd worn out her welcome for being blunt, and she really didn't want to stunt this new friendship before it even got off the ground, so to speak, secrets or not. "Well, besides all this school talk, what do you do for fun? Is there a roller rink or a bowling alley anywhere nearby?"


	3. Chapter 3

Courtney looked startled as Billy told her of his job at the radio station. Despite her lamentations about her odious (in her opinion) stepfather, she had a rather pampered life. He provided well for her mother and herself, and he really was a good guy all around.

"You have a job? Are you saving up for a new bicycle or something?" She couldn't imagine a world where a young person in school would need a job for anything other than spending money, and even that only for big ticket items. If she wanted to go out all she had to do was ask Pat or her mom and whatever she needed or wanted was provided.

The spoiled young blonde's eyes went even wider as he explained about his job, and she gave Billy's hand a small squeeze. He was clearly a more responsible and driven person than she was. Her mom said she needed people like that in her life, that she was feckless and easily distracted. How could she tell her parent that it was because she spent so many nights flying around stopping criminals? She simply couldn't. Knowing her mom would like Billy made her like him more, though. As much as she rebelled against Pat, her mom was her rock. "Well Billy, hopefully none of that responsiblity of yours rubs off on me. Highschool is about having fun, otherwise what's the point?!"

She gave his hand a light tug, it seemed like they kept stumbling into heavy topics, and that was hardly her intention for the first day she met someone. She was going to end up giving off the impression that she was actually serious or something, and that wouldn't do. The more lighthearted and irresponsible she was in her teen life, the less likely it was that she'd be connected with her alter ego. Rebranding from the Star Spangled Kid to Stargirl had taken a lot of effort, but if anyone connected the relocation of the blonde young JSA member with the new blonde girl in class, well that wouldn't go over well.

"Don't let me be a Debbie Downer, since I can't seem to steer this conversation to something good, why don't you take the wheel?" She let out a lighthearted laugh, hoping it didn't sound as forced as it felt. She was not good at making new friends. Poor, awkward Billy struggled, offering weather as a possible topic of conversation. The way he wrinkled up his face made her burst out into giggles. Placing one forearm on his shoulder, she pressed her forehead against it, the laughter shaking her frame as she leaned into him.

"You..." She heaved a heavy breath, laughing harder, tears dampening her sleeve where she pressed her face. "You should see your face! It's so adorable and lost." Choking she pulled away, wiping her face. "I'm sorry... it's just..." She devolved into giggles again, holding her sides. A last giggle escapes Courtney, and she wipes her face again, cheeks flushed red from the laughter and blue eyes bright and sparkly. This was the real, carefree heart of her. This was the girl who had played pranks on Wildcat and charmed Starman once upon a time. Whether she admitted it or not, she missed the old goats of the JSA.

"I'm fine," she managed to choke out, trying to muster some semblance of control. "You just looked so lost and confused... It was funny. I'm sorry. I'm being really rude..." She desperately tried to hold back another giggle.


End file.
